Project report group 5 Postal office Kålgården
Robert Ljungberg Viktor Bengtsson Martina Volpin Paul Schubert
Work-Human-Technology 2014
Postadress: Box 1026 551 11 Jönköping
Besöksadress: Gjuterigatan 5
Telefon: 036-‐10 10 00
Examiner: Johan Karltun Supervisor: Martina Berglund Scope: 3 credits Date: 2014-10-06 Postadress: Box 1026 551 11 Jönköping
Besöksadress: Gjuterigatan 5
Telefon: 036-‐10 10 00
Abstract
Abstract This report provides an analysis of a selected workplace through an HTO perspective and a post office was chosen for the empirical evaluation. The extended theoretical framework described by Eklund (2003) has been used as the main reference model. The investigation includes interactions between human, technology, organization and the environment, considering both the internal work setting and the external context that may influence the work activities as well. The data collection has been conducted through structured and unstructured openended questions and direct observations. The findings show that there have been issues related to interactions between HTO components in the past, issues that have been solved through the implementation of new solutions. For instance, new lighting equipment has been introduced to solve the problem due to insufficient lighting and new transportation alternatives to bicycles, such as club-cars and electric mopeds, have been added to support deliveries. On the other side, other issues are still presents, despite attempts to overcome them: incorrect working heights and distances that can cause pain and injuries, human mistakes in the sorting process or difficulties in dealing with seasonal environmental changes. For some of the highlighted problems nothing relevant can be done with the available technologies and current capabilities. But for others, some improvements can be achieved, for example in the case of working heights and distances, as further explained in the conclusions and recommendations of this report. Keywords: HTO perspective, ergonomics, workplace, work activity, human, environment, analysis, system, case study, post office
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Contents
Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................... 5 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................................. 5 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................................ 6 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................................... 7 DELIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 8
2 Theoretical framework ............................................................. 9 2.1 HTO-MODEL LINKED TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................... 9 2.2 HTO-FRAMEWORK (EKLUND’S MODEL, 2003) ............................................................................ 9 2.3 ERGONOMICS ............................................................................................................................. 10 2.3.1 Physical activity ................................................................................................................ 10 2.4 AUTOMATION............................................................................................................................. 12 2.5 WORK ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................ 12 2.5.1 Illumination ....................................................................................................................... 12 2.5.2 Climate .............................................................................................................................. 13 2.6 ORGANIZATION .......................................................................................................................... 13
3 Method and implementation ................................................. 15 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
RESEARCH PROCESS ................................................................................................................... 15 CASE STUDY ............................................................................................................................... 15 FOCAL COMPANY ....................................................................................................................... 15 INTERVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 15 OBSERVATION ............................................................................................................................ 16 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY ...................................................................................................... 16
4 Findings..................................................................................... 17 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5
POSTAL OFFICE KÅLGÅRDEN ..................................................................................................... 17 SORTING .................................................................................................................................... 17 DELIVERY .................................................................................................................................. 19 UNCERTAINTY ........................................................................................................................... 20 SEASONALITY ............................................................................................................................ 20
5 Analysis and discussions .......................................................... 21 5.1 FINDINGS AT THE POSTAL OFFICE IN KÅLGÅRDEN ..................................................................... 21 5.1.1 Sorting: stations and ergonomics ...................................................................................... 21 5.1.2 Delivery: transportation alternatives ................................................................................ 22 5.1.3 Delivery: seasonality ......................................................................................................... 22 5.1.4 Organizational factors ...................................................................................................... 23 5.2 DISCUSSION OF METHOD ............................................................................................................ 23 5.3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................... 24
6 References ................................................................................ 25
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Contents
Table of figures FIGUR 1. HTO-MODEL EKLUND (2003) 9 FIGUR 2. WORKING HEIGHT AFS (2012) FEL! BOKMÄRKET ÄR INTE DEFINIERAT. FIGUR 3. WORKING DISTANCE AFS (2012) 12 FIGUR 4. SORTINGRACKS PHOTO (2014) 17 FIGUR 5. SORTINGRACKS PHOTO (2014) 18 FIGUR 6. SORTING BY COMPANY PHOTO (2014) 18 FIGUR 7. CARTS PHOTO (2014) 19
Table of tables TABELL 1. AUTOMATION VS. HUMAN KARLTUN (2014)
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Introduction
1 Introduction This chapter of the report presents the background in the subject area and the problem description, describing problems connected with the subject. Finally, it describes the report's purpose and research questions and delimitations. The following report is the result of a project work that has to be accomplished by finding, visiting, studying and analyzing a professional work setting according to an HTO-perspective. The project is an important part of the Work Human Technology course and it’s carried out in order to problematize any relevant issue emerging from the empirical investigation and discuss possible improvements and new solutions from an HTO-perspective. The workplace selected by our group for this project is Posten Kålgården, a local post office in Jönköping and consequently it represents the context of the investigation described in this paper. The study has been conducted through questions asked to the office main responsible and direct observation in the workplace.
1.1 Background As mentioned above, the project work is based on an HTO-perspective. This approach is largely described and discussed in literature (see Eklund, 2003; Porras & Robertson, 1992; Helander, 2006) and earlier empirical studies have already been conducted on this topic (Berglund & Karltun, 2007; Karltun, 2011). In order to provide a clear background of the theme, we’re going to explain what we mean here as HTO-perspective. HTO is a concept deeply connected with Ergonomics and Human Factors Engineering, which are the scientific disciplines concerned with the understanding of human requirements and needs in the interactions with the other elements of a system in order to design a workplace with optimized performances (Eklund, 2003). The acronym “HTO” stands for Human-Technology-Organization and it’s used to emphasize that the only way to successfully promote safety, health, wellbeing, efficiency and system performance is taking into account all these three components of the system together, considering the mutual influences and the impacts they have on each other. The HTO framework is therefore based on a system view and is usable in three levels: as a philosophy, as a perspective and finally as a methodology for analysis of work systems. Hence, this theoretical framework is suitable as a tool for change and improvements (Eklund, 2003). This concept will be further explained in the theoretical background. As previously announced, the context for this investigation is a local post office situated in Jönköping, Sweden. As reported by Karltun (2011), the national Swedish Post Office has been subject to a large-scale restructuring in the last twenty years. In 2000, a top-down change process for the rationalization of post distribution, called the “Best Method”, was unsuccessfully implemented at all local delivery offices of the Mail Service Division. The aim was to increase productivity by optimizing the work processes, through work design standardization and personnel downsizing. According to Karltun’s study, the unsatisfactory outcomes 5
Introduction
of the restructuring process were due to the insufficient HTO systems thinking behind the “Best Method” concept. This proved to have a negative impact on efficiency and productivity gains and also created an increase in occupational disorders. An evaluative investigation, conducted by ergonomic researchers called in by the Mail Service Division’s management in 2001, showed in fact that the system presented different problems related to the HTO interactions as there were discrepancies in technical design of work tools, organizational arrangements, physical settings and human prerequisites to perform the tasks. The identified HTO problem became the basis for other improvement measures and led to another big change process, this time researcher-supported, that involved a thousand of postal workers and huge investments. The purpose this time was dual: achieve enhanced efficiency in operations and attain better work conditions for postmen. Improvements were obtained through new labeling and lighting for sorting racks, optimization of the sorting racks and ancillary space, training in better work techniques for sorting mail and development of a manual for organizing efficient indoor work at the local delivery offices (Karltun, 2011). This brief overview on the recent issues in the Swedish Post Office is useful to understand how important is to take into account all the elements of the work system and their mutual interactions in order to gain successful and long-lasting outcomes, both for the organizational performance and for workers’ health and safety. Furthermore, the knowledge of these problems in the past and how they were faced allowed us to direct our questions on specific topics more easily. Therefore, this report is going to analyze the interactions between all the different components of the working system, according to an holistic perspective, with a particular focus on the interactions between human and technology and human and the work environment, as they were easier to identify through a direct observation. The HTO-perspective is here used as a reference in order to understand how these interactions actually work in practice and how they affect people working conditions.
1.2 Problem description The post office in general has not only one kind of problem, the problems are most multi-faceted like Karltun mentions (2011). Technical problems could be, for example, mismatches in technical design of the work tools. In the organizational area, problems could appear in formal and informal arrangements and work procedures in physical planning of the work areas. So there could be a discrepancy in both organization and technology. On the human side, problems in relation to the human prerequisites for performing the work could occur as well. The problems explained were the basis for improving the work conditions of postmen. According to the local post office in Jönköping we found out problems in different HTO areas. In regard to the technical system there are no real problems by the system itself. Problems just appear when the postal number is correct but not the address. The machines that sort the mail cannot solve this problem. Another problem can occur when two letters stick to each other and, as a result of that, they get delivered to the same address. It is a kind of problem that can always 6
Introduction
appear, because there is no method to change it. Even the best machine cannot prevent this mistake. People also forget to change the address, when they move and therefore they don’t get their mail. There have been environmental problems as well. For instance, in the past, the dark was a big problem for the mailmen: they could not read the address on the mail when they were standing outside in the dark with not enough light. So the post office solved the problem by giving the mailmen headlamps. In terms of the human side of HTO, mailmen they get injuries mostly because of the environment. For example in winter it is impossible to avoid falls when the streets are slippery for the snow. Only more resistant clothes can protect the mailmen against serious injuries. So to say human problems are solved by technical improvements. A further human discrepancy appears when the mailmen have to deliver more than one big and heavy catalogue. To avoid pain on shoulders and arms, the post office let deliver the catalogues not at the same time. Therefore, the postmen will be prevented for injuries, but the solution was made by the organization. But there always will be human mistakes that cannot be avoid, e.g. when the postmen sort the mail in the wrong tray. The production leader did not mention organizational problems. Only for the solution of other problems, as already explained, the organization plays an important role. In conclusion of the problem description, the whole technical system is working pretty good, the employees are protected from most ergonomic problems and the organisation does also make a good job and can solve problems on the technical and human side.
1.3 Purpose and research questions The purpose of this report is to gain further understanding about how HTO-components affect the working conditions at Posten. Technology and human performance should interact in a good way to make the system reach the maximum efficiency. Taking into account human needs and conditions in the workplace is also very important. In order to achieve the purpose of this report the first question we’re going to answer is: 1. How does the human interaction with technology and organization function? The environment can be viewed as a component of the HTO-perspective and it also interacts with the other components in the system. Accordingly, the second question becomes: 2. In what environments is the work performed and what consequences for the human and their work performance does this imply?
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Introduction
1.4 Delimitations The emphasis in this report is on the components human, technology and the environment. The organization is also a component of HTO, but for various reasons there’s not the same focus on the organization as the other components in this report. This is because of lack of information from the production leader and because of a partially closed down postal office. The authors have chosen to focus on the physical activities because they are most common in the working place.
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Theoretical framework
2 Theoretical framework In this chapter the theory necessary to answer this reports purpose and research questions get presented, a short definition of the term interaction is described. Theories about how humans interact with technology and effects of different work environments are presented.
2.1 HTO-model linked to research questions The theoretical background contributes to the structure of the report and increases the readability while simplifying the search for literature. The theoretical background is based on the theoretical framework that is represented by the HTO-model, which is illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1. HTO-model Eklund (2003)
2.2 HTO-framework (Eklund’s model, 2003) HTO concept is based on a system’s perspective and Eklund’s model is in line with the HTO's systems approach. According to Eklund (2003) the model may be used as a methodology to analyse a working system or organization. In that way it'll be easier to understand the system and the interactions between the various components in the system. The model is focused on the individual work activities that in interaction with the organization, technology and the environment will contribute to the organization's processes. According to Eklund (2003) a good achievement in work activity is necessary for process quality and organizational performance. If the work activity can be performed efficiently without 9
Theoretical framework
interference, it can improve the organization's productivity and outcomes. Eklund (2003) suggests that HTO interactions are important for an organization to function effectively. The main components in the model are human, technology, organization and environment, as illustrated in figure 1. In addition, the organization must interact with context as it is in. The interaction between source components in the system can facilitate or complicate the work activities and organizational processes (Eklund, 2003). According to Eklund (2003) the framework can be used at three levels: firstly, it is a philosophy, secondly, it represents a perspective of work systems and organization, and finally, it can be a method to analyse work systems. The HTO framework is a useful tool for change and improvement. Analyses based on the model would be able to identify the interactions between the components of the system and the potential for improving individual and system performance, security and well being (Eklund, 2003).
2.3 Ergonomics The term ergonomics is derived from the Greek words ergon (work) and nomos (law) (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2001). According to the authors Dul and Weerdmeester (2001), the definition of ergonomics can be described briefly that ergonomics aims to design appliances, technical systems and tasks in order to improve human safety, health, comfort and performance. The focus of ergonomics is man: unsustainable conditions at work and in everyday life affect humans, and by taking into account human physical and psychological possibilities and restraints, they can be avoided (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2001). According to Mathiessen et al. (2007), ergonomics include technical and organizational factors that influence and determine the human working conditions. Ergonomics is often associated with how to lift, sit, stand and carry in order to reduce muscle and bone injuries, but it means so much more (Mathiessen et al., 2007). There are many different factors that play role in ergonomics, such as body posture and movement (pulling, sitting), environmental factors (noise, climate, vibration), information and operation, and ultimately the organization (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2001). 2.3.1
Physical activity
The authors have decided to separate two different kinds of physical activity that are common in a normal working place: the two categories are working height and working distance. Working height: The working height is an important factor that affects everything that’s being done in a workplace. It’s a fact that a fixed working height doesn’t fit every employee. A low working height can cause pain and injuries in the lower back while a high working height can cause pain and injuries in neck and shoulders (AFS, 2012). Mathiassen et al (2007) claims that companies should aim to give employees the possibility to control the working height or at least give them the possibility to change it frequently during the day. 10
Theoretical framework
Heavy machinery and repetitive tasks in combination with poor working height is inappropriate. The suitable working height depends on: • Body length, which can differ more that 40 cm in a work team. • The assigned work task. • The assigned work tasks altitude range.
Figur 2. Working height AFS (2012)
Working distance: The working distance is also a very important when discussing the workload on the body. Mathiassen et al (2007) argues that the best working distance lies within 20-30 cm from the body. The widest working distance is within 40-50 cm, these two measurements represent the inner and the outer working area. Mathiassen et al (2007) also points out that the longer time intervals, often repeated, force and performance demanding work tasks the employee performs, the more important it is for them to be performed with relaxed arms, shoulders near the body in the inner working distance. Standing working distances are a bit longer but the distance plays just as big a role, tilted working stations is recommended (Mathiassen et al., (2007).
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Theoretical framework Figur 3. Working distance AFS (2012)
2.4 Automation “To automate means making something to move by itself. The aim can be to reduce workload or risks for the human at work but also to increase efficiency and quality in a process.” (ne, 2014). Automation is usually applied in case of dangerous, difficult, unpleasant tasks for humans, or in order to complete human abilities and do something that can’t be done manually with the required speed or precision (Karltun, 2014). There are different possible stages and levels of automation. It’s important to be aware, though, that the focus on automation doesn’t necessarily increase production and doesn’t eliminate completely the risk of human error. It’s also necessary to adapt, if possible, the automation considering human experience and knowledge so that it can really support and help the human to cope with the demand of the system (Karltun, 2014). Tabell 1. Automation vs. human Karltun (2014)
2.5 Work environment Dul and Weerdmeester (2001) argue that the work environment is a factor that affects the human, moreover, Eklund (2003) claims that the environment interacts with the other components in the system. Two factors in the environment that can affect the work activities are lighting and climate (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2001). 2.5.1
Illumination
The sight usually affect the working position so that it’s extremely important to ensure the right sight distance, luminosity and contrast conditions in the workplace. Bad light force you to move closer to the object and enter that way a worse posture. A strong light does not have to be good, the light need to be glarefree (Mathiessen et al., 2007). In determining the amount of light, it is necessary to 12
Theoretical framework
distinguish between different types of light, such as orientation lighting, normal work lighting and special lighting. The main aim with improved lighting is to provide sufficient light intensity and to avoid excessive brightness differences in the visual field such as may occur with light sources, windows, reflections and shadows (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2001). 2.5.2
Climate
The climate needs to satisfy certain conditions of work to be performed under pleasant conditions. According Dul and Weerdmeester (2003) there are four factors to take into account: air temperature, temperature of cold and hot surfaces, air velocity and humidity. The climate may be perceived differently depending on how physically demanding the work is and what type of clothing needed/used (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2003). Temperature control is achieved by balancing the factors that influence the body temperature, the factors are the heat produced and the rate of heat loss (Bridger, 2003). Both heat and cold can affect humans and their capacity to perform the work in an efficient way and pleasant conditions. The human body can adapt relatively well to the heat when the body has features like sweat glands (Bridger, 2003). Work in cold and heat environments requires workarounds to manage injuries that cold and heat can cause (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2003). According Bridger (2003) are injuries due to cold usually on the fingers, toes, nose, cheeks and ears.
2.6 Organization An important component of the HTO perspective is the organization itself, which represents the human component in an aggregated sense. Its characteristics and decisions influence the work activities and therefore also the performance and outcomes. The organization comprises how the work is organized and structured, both formally and informally (Berglund & Karltun, 2007). The formal side includes the organizational arrangements that correspond to goals, strategies, formal structure (e.g. hierarchy, work roles, authority and rules), administrative policies and system (e.g. control, information and management systems, financial accounting, coordination, planning), reward system, ownership. These formal elements of the organization coordinate the behavior of people and the functioning of different parts of the organization. They usually exist in written form and represent the way the organization is intended to work, not necessary the way it actually does. On the other side, the informal level includes social factors such as culture, management style, interaction processes, informal patterns and networks, individual attributes. These factors encompass the characteristic of people in the organization individually and in groups, their pattern and processes of communication (Porras & Robertson, 1992). Practical examples of organizational aspects that influence and involve people in their workplace can be the planning methods and strategies adopted for production or delivery, as well as the arrangement of regular meetings with departments representatives, staff members and managers in order to discuss eventual problems and make decisions (Berglund & Karltun, 2007). 13
Theoretical framework
In comparison to Human-Technology and Human-Environment interactions, those interactions involving the organization are not so immediate to recognize and require a background of knowledge and information about the organizational characteristics that can’t be deduced only from a direct observation of the workplace.
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Method
3 Method and implementation This chapter describes the report's methodological choices, how the data has been carried out and how the collected data is linked to the research questions. Finally, it describes how the validity and reliability sought.
3.1 Research process The work in this project has been divided in to four separate processes. First of all, we have gathered general knowledge about the subject through lectures that stretched through six weeks. After that, we searched for companies that were suitable when looking in an HTO-perspective. The third step was a combination between a case study and a search for literature that was suitable. The forth step was when we did our analysis and discussion and reflected about the difference in the litterateur, what we learned on lectures and what was reality at the postal office.
3.2 Case study When choosing a company for the project the authors looked for a company that fulfilled certain criteria. The authors wanted to find a company where a there were clear interactions between human, technology and organization. The authors also wanted a company which work was easy understandable, when you can see through the workers eyes it’s easier to understand what affects them and which interactions to focus on.
3.3 Focal company The authors choose to conduct a case study at the postal office in Kålgården, which is the office that controls all of Jönköping’s mail. Within the company the main activity is sorting and the main sorting is done by machine in a big terminal in Nässjö. Therefore the sorting in Kålgården isn’t that extensive, its done by hand and in logical steps. About seventy people currently work at the postal office, where most of them work directly with the mail and the rest with indirect work (administrative).
3.4 Interview Conducting interviews is one of the main sources to collect data when doing a case study (Yin, 2003). Patel & Davidson (2011) describes that there are different kind of interviews based on the degree of standardization and structure. Jacobsen (2011) has the same but slightly different opinion, whether the interview is open or closed. According to Jacobsen (2011) the interview can be graded as open or closed by a sliding scale. The authors decided to conduct an open interview at the Postal office in Kålgården, there were mostly open-ended questions were the production leader did most of the talking. We only led him into the subjects we wanted to hear about.
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Method
3.5 Observation Observation is an appropriate analysis method to use because it complements the data previously collected with other technics (Patel & Davidson, 2011). The authors were able to walk around in the compound together with the production leader after the interview. We’ve also discussed informally about the layouts and the different working stations and processes. The authors, with the workers’ permission, were also able to take some photos of the stations and the overall workplace.
3.6 Validity and reliability For this report to have a good validity we as authors have to access the correct the right area that means that the things we wanted to measure actually got measured (Eriksson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 2006). To get good reliability the authors have to conduct the measurements in a reliable way (Patel & Davidson, 2011). Patel & Davidson (2011) means that you cant focus on only the one but both to achieve one of them. Three heuristics is as below; 1. High reliability is no guaranty of high validity 2. Low reliability for low validity 3. Complete reliability is a prerequisite for the full validity. To achieve high reliability the documentations has to be flawless, this because other authors should be able to conduct the same research and have the same result (Yin, 2003). To increase the validity and the reliability triangulation is a good tool, it means that the conclusions a controlled by a combinations of different methods like different interviewers, different situations and different persons that analyse and collect data. This is an effective way for the authors to control that the same result can be achieved by other authors (Jacobsen, 2011). Patel & Davidson (2011) means that data from the different methods can either lead in the same direction or not, both are interesting. The authors use triangulations by collecting data though different methods, both interview and observation.
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Findings
4 Findings In this chapter of the report the findings get presented, based on the interview that took place at the postal office in Kålgården. This chapter contains only what the production leader said and no thought by the authors.
4.1 Postal office Kålgården The workplace at the postal office in Kålgården is divided into different processes/stations. It’s like a flow map where everything starts in one side of the compound and finishes in the other. The main processes are sorting and delivery.
4.2 Sorting When the mail arrives to the postal office at 7:10 am it is sorted by the districts is should be finely delivered to, by using the city’s post numbers as a template. After that rough sorting the postmen takes the mail from the post number they are responsible for and continue sorting. This second sorting is done in three steps: which staircase, which floor and finally by name. The sorting should be finished by 8:30 am so that the delivery can begin at 8:45. The time schedule is primarily for the companies, it’s an estimated time so that the mailmen don’t have to stress. The first step in the sorting process is to transform a lot of mail into different racks based on postcodes. The idea is that every rack that is illustrated in figure 4 symbolises a postcode, when that is done its transported to the next sorting station.
Figur 4. Sorting racks Photo (2014)
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Findings
According to the production leader the second sorting station means trouble for the mailmen, the different mailmen switches between different districts what means that the working height is different. The station and its sorting racks are adjustable, the mailmen can choose the height the sorting racks should be but they don’t because it’s heavy and takes time. This means that a tall and a short person can use the same station, this leads to that the working height is ever optimal. The sorting station and the sorting racks are illustrated in figure 5.
Figur 5. Sorting racks Photo (2014)
Mails that are going to be delivered to large companies are sorted into carts, which are illustrated in Figure 6. These companies get a lot of mail and have their own postcodes, therefore the postal office doesn’t use the sorting racks.
Figur 6. Sorting by company Photo (2014) 18
Findings
4.3 Delivery The delivery contains different methods of transportation depending on what kind of district the mailmen are responsible for. The different transportation vehicles are bicycle, car, electric moped and club-car. The production leader means that every vehicle has benefits when talking about the environment and load of mail, for example the bicycle is environmentally friendly but not effective because the mailmen cant bring all the mail on the bicycle. Instead they have to use “boxes” that are located around town where mail is stored until the mailmen on bicycles can deliver it. The club-car and the electric moped is an as environmentally friendly alternative but is not available everywhere, then the mailmen can bring all the 150 kg mail at once. The car is used in the more distanced districts and in the winter when the weather prevents the other alternatives. When delivering the mail the mailmen faces an obvious problem: in different houses the mailboxes are located differently. Sometimes there located in the entrance and sometimes on every door in the building, this affects the mailmen physically. The lifting limit of a mailmen is 150 kg each day, this means that a mailmen lifts and carries around a lot every day. To prevent physical injuries the mailmen has training on how to do heavy lifting. According to the production leader this helps for a while but then the mailmen often fall back in their old routines after a while. There are also aids to avoid heavy lifting and to avoid having to carry long distances. An example of tools used is the rolling carts, as illustrated in figure 7.
Figur 7. Carts Photo (2014)
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Findings
4.4 Uncertainty According to the production leader there are currently some uncertainties in the workplace, because the house will be demolished and new apartments will be built on the site. The employees know nothing about the move, only that the activity will be moved to another location. The production leader points out that topdown decision is common, this means that the employees have no say in the decision making.
4.5 Seasonality According to the production leader the season affects the whole enterprise, both the sorting process and the delivery process. There is less mail activity during the summer and more in the winter. If the mailmen didn’t need to deliver the mail daily according to the law they could probably shut down all week except one day to deliver the mail. In the winter on the other hand you have more to do, less daylight to deliver and less accessibility, which make the work harder. Another seasonal change is depending on certain demand instead of weather: both IKEA and Biltema hands out their free catalogues in the fall and sometimes in the same week, which is a planning difficulty for the mailmen. Because the catalogues are heavy and many, the postal office need to put aside personnel to handle the delivery and prevent injuries. The winter induces problems through the whole supply chain, both delayed deliveries and increased injuries/accidents. One problem is to work with a lot of clothes and gloves, you need to wear them to stay warm but they prevent the mailman to do the work correctly. The flexibility decreases and that means that the mailmen are less efficient. Another problem combined with winter is the dark, it’s prevent the mailman to see where the mail supposed to be delivered.
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Analysis and discussions
5 Analysis and discussions This chapter discusses the report's findings and the method of achieving the findings. Method discussion addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the approach. Finally, we present conclusions and recommendations.
5.1 Findings at the postal office in Kålgården Eklund (2003) points out that the HTO-perspective is a system thinking, which means that you look trough a holistic view. A company is different parts working as one. The postal office in Kålgården doesn’t use any special technology, they use different kind of transportation in the delivery part of their work and they use carts as an aid to not lift too much in their sorting process. Therefore the author has decided not to analyses the technology further, the most common and obvious interaction was between the human and environment. Because the mail has been sorted once before it gets delivered to the postal office in Kålgården the sorting process is perceived to be easy. Eklunds model (2003) doesn’t have any ingoing factors of what perspective that contains what, the authors therefore decided to divide the different processes in the postal office into different perspectives. The human activities are the two processes: sorting and delivery. The technology is the transportations alternatives: bicycle, electric moped, club-car and car. The environment is the seasons, workplace, stations and the conditions in the workplace. 5.1.1
Sorting: stations and ergonomics
Dul and Weerdmeester (2001) mean that ergonomics contains several factors that influences and determine the human working conditions. The first station in the compound is sorting and contains only manual labour and physical work, which includes lifting, standing, reaching and carrying mail. Mathiassen et al. (2007) mean that the company has to design the workstations according to an ergonomic standard to prevent injuries. There should also be a measured working distance so that the worked don’t have to reach which also can lead to injuries. The most common injury associated with incorrect working height and distance is pain and injuries in neck and shoulders according to AFS (2012). These injuries are actually also common at the postal office in Kålgården, this because of following things. The sorting station in designed to be configured after the person that will work there, you can adjust the height and therefore also the distance. This is a good feature because the mailmen will switch districts and therefore switch working station. The problem is that none of the mailmen change the stations before the start sorting, the racks are very heavy and it takes to long, this means that a person that is 190 cm tall can work at a station one day and the next day a person that is 150 cm tall can be working there. According to Dul and Weerdmeester (2001) the environmental factors affects the work through other types of ergonomics, noise, climate, vibrations and light. The postal office in Kålgården has taken measures in this matter by having light over every sorting rack and the climate is at a normal state. Mathiasson et al. (2007) strengthen that argument by saying that incorrect light can result in a bad posture. 21
Analysis and discussions 5.1.2
Delivery: transportation alternatives
The delivery process includes a lot of physical activity what requires a good physical health. This because the mailmen have to run staircases and do a lot of lifting during a normal day. In this case the human will have to adjust to the environment and get aid by the technology trough the transportations alternatives if looking at the problem through a HTO-perspective. This means that the postal office has to plan the routes in such a way that the mailmen doesn’t have to carry more than 150 kg and have time to finish the district within the working day. The Swedish postal service has therefore stationed post-boxes at different locations around the cities so that the mailmen can use bicycles and deliver all their mail without having to bring 150 kg mail on the bicycle. This is a smart solution but not that efficient, the best method would be that the mailmen could bring al the mail at once. Because of that the club-car and electric moped were invented, this can bring along all the mail. But they’re not welcome everywhere and therefore the bicycle is a good alternative. Another aspect is to run in the staircases, both the mailmen on bicycles, electric mopeds and the club-car has to put the mail in mailboxes inside the buildings. The placements of the mailboxes are therefore an important aspect, but this aspect is hard for the postal office to influence. Many apartment buildings have their mailboxes adjacent in the entrance, which facilitates. The third alternative is the car, which is active in the outskirts of town and can bring all mail at once. The postmen don’t need to run in stairs because they only deliver the mail into outside mailboxes, which they can reach from the car. The distant goal of the postal office is to find more use of the club-car and the electric moped, this to facilitate the deliveries, mailman and to avoid repetitive strain injuries. For now they need to continue with the bicycle and collect health care contributions so that they can stand in shape and prevent injuries. Furthermore they get working time abbreviation, ten days every year. 5.1.3
Delivery: seasonality
A major problem regarding the delivery is the winter season, that's when most accidents and injuries occur. Bridger (2003) point out that cold can affect humans and their capacity to perform the work in an efficient way and pleasant conditions. The postmen need to work with a lot of clothes and gloves to stay warm but that prevent the mailman to do the work correctly. The flexibility decreases and that means that the mailmen are less efficient. The postal office cannot affect the seasons and must conform to the prevailing conditions, which means that the environments affect the mailmen and working activities in the highest degree. Work in cold environments requires workarounds to manage injuries that cold can cause (Dul & Weerdmeester, 2003). The postal office has to try in the best way to adapt to the current climate, otherwise the mailman will suffer the consequences and he will be cold and less effective.
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Analysis and discussions
Another winter related problem is the dark: the hours with daylight are few and the mailman has to work in the dark to finish his route. Mathiessen et al. (2007) mean that the lights need to be enough to be able to work in the right conditions. Today, the problem is partially solved when the bicycle mailman using headlamps but before they was forced to ride the bicycle to a street lamp to see where the mail would be delivered. When it is dark outside and you put on the lamp inside the car you don't see anything outside, as a result of this the postal office has made special features, which main function is to light up the outside when the window is down. 5.1.4
Organizational factors
The organization comprises how the work is organized and structured, both formally and informally (Berglund & Karltun, 2007). Currently, there are some concerns in the workplace when the building will be demolished and no one really knows when and where the enterprise will be moved. An additional concern is the number of postal consignments reduction and the fact that in the future sorting machines in Nässjö will probably do all sorting. Which would mean that the postal office in Kålgården only delivers the already sorted mail, eight-hour delivery. These factors can also affect the workers, it is an organizational factor to manage. Another important organizational aspect is the need of an accurate planning of deliveries, especially when heavy catalogues, such as Ikea and Biltema ones, arrive in the same periods of the year. The appropriate management of this type of situations can prevent injuries and health issues correlated with the weight of the items delivered by postmen.
5.2 Discussion of method The group considers the method interview a suitable and reliable method to collect information. The reason for this is that no one in the group was familiar with how the postal office works and how the workplace looks like, we therefore performed an open interview with the production leader. When analysing the result of the interview the authors realise that another or even a few more interviews should have been helpful. With both the productions leader, for more information, and also with someone in another position in the postal office to improve the understanding of the whole system. When preparing the questions for the interview we encountered the same problem, because we were not familiar with the postal office many of the questions were unusable. The interview itself was held in Swedish although half the group were internationals, this made the result less usable because only two people possessed the information.
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Analysis and discussions
By being able to make some observations the authors were able to observe and understand about the postal office that we previously had no knowledge about. The authors were hindered to take photographs of certain things, the appointment was planned at a time with no or at least very little activity and these things prevented us to fully understand the different processes. Another visit with the possibility to observe a fully active sorting process should have been helpful when analysing and discussing the process. When arriving in the postal office in Kålgården the authors quickly discovered that the compound consisted of simple technology, and because the task was to analyse human, technology and organisation a visit to the bigger post terminal in Nässjö would have been more suitable. As a final reflection about our project the authors think that a deeper literature study could have helped, the literature that the report consists of is relevant and confirmed by other research but by adding more could have given a bigger depth.
5.3 Conclusions and recommendations The group consider that the postal office in Kålgården has a holistic view and a system thinking for their corporate activity. The authors have answered the research questions by analysing the interactions between human, technology, environment and organization. The postal office doesn’t use that much technology. But the one that they use is sufficient for the processes that they work with today. The external environment is something that the postal office can’t control and is affected by it. They are actively trying to adapt to the problems with the environment by designing ergonomically good workstations and smarter ways to deliver mail from a safety point of view. The authors have decided that following recommendations could be helpful and attainable for the postal office in Kålgården. If the employees follow this advice, the injuries and overall health will decrease and the work will be more comfortable. • Simplify the height adjustment on the sorting racks, so that it can be effectively used when necessary. • Use the available aids and techniques and plan the mailmen work to avoid repetitive strain injuries. • The employee should take advantage of the health care contributions to keep a good physical health. • Demand to know about future decisions to decrease the uncertainty among employees. Inform the employees as soon as a decision is made. • The season variety is unavoidable, but try to adapt as good as possible by using the right equipment.
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References
6 References AFS 2012:02 http://www.av.se/dokument/afs/afs2012_02.pdf Downloaded: 2014-09-24 Berglund, M., & Karltun, J. (2007). Human, Technological and Organizational Aspects Influencing the Production Scheduling Process, International Journal of Production Economics, 110 (1-2) 160-174. Bridger, R. S. (2003). Itroduction To Ergonomics.(2. edi.). London: Taylor & Francis Group. Dul, J., & Weerdmeester, B. (2001). Ergonomics For Beginners: A Quick Reference Guide.(2. edi.). London: Taylor & Francis Group. Eklund, J. (2003). An extend framework for humans, technology and organization in interaction. Human factors in organizational design and management, VII. Eriksson, L. T., & Widersheim-Paul, F. (2006). Att utreda, forska och rapportera.(8. edi.). Malmö: Liber AB. Helander, M. (2006). A guide to human factors and ergonomics.(2 edi.). Singapore: Taylor & Francis Group. Jacobsen, D. I. (2011). Vad, hur och varför?: Om metodval i företagsekonomi och andra samhällsvetenskapliga ämnen. Lund: Studentlitteratur AB. Karltun, A. (2011). Developing HTO system’s thinking for organizational and technological change. Paper presented at the Human factors in organizational design and management – X. Mathiassen, S. E., Munck-Ulfsfält, U., Nilsson, B., & Thornblad, H. (2007). Ergonomi för ett got arbete. Stockholm: Prevent. Patel, R., & Davidson, B. (2011). Forskningsmetodikens grunder: att planera, genomföra och rapportera en undersökning.(4. edi.). Lund: Studentlitteratur AB. Porras, J. I., & Robertson, P. J. (1992). Organizational Development: Theory, Practice and Research, Chapter 12 in Eds. M.D. Dunnette and L.M. Hough, Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. USA: Consulting Psychologist Press, Inc. Swedish National Encyclopaedia http://www.ne.se/automatisering Downloaded: 2014-09-24 Wickens, C. D., Lee, J. D., Liu, Y., & Becker, S. E. G. (2004). An introduction to Human Factors Engineering.(2. edi.). Pearson Prentice Hall: Pearson Education International. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods.(3. uppl.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. 25
